


The Living Situation

by leoba



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Developing Relationship, Finnreylo, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 21:18:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16710193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoba/pseuds/leoba
Summary: Rey has a couple of new roommates and they all really like each other; it takes her a while to figure out what's going on.





	The Living Situation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pythia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pythia/gifts), [persimonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persimonne/gifts).



> I love Finnreylo, so when a few people on the RFFA chat were talking about the growth of polyamory among millennials, due to shared living situations, I just had to write it. This is soft and sweet, and Rey is so wonderfully clueless.

“You don't have to move out, Rey. You're welcome to stay.”

Rey shook her head and played with the straw in her cup of soda. She’d been preparing herself for this conversation for weeks, ever since her roommate Rose moved her stuff into the bedroom of their other roommate Poe. Hooking up was one thing, but a steady relationship was something else. Rey knew herself well enough to know she couldn't handle it.

“I know I don't, but I want to.” Rey paused, not wanting to say too much while wanting to make sure Rose understood where she was coming from. “You guys are my friends and you've been great roommates, but it's different with you two together. I feel like a third wheel.” Rose took a breath as though to speak and Rey pushed on. “You're gonna say I'm not but I  _ feel _ like one, and if I stay eventually I'll resent it and I don't want that. I love you guys too much. Okay?”

Rose sighed and took a sip of her own drink. “Okay babe, I get it, and it's fine. We’ll miss you, though, you need to come back and visit often, okay?”

“I promise, definitely. I can't imagine getting better roomies than you guys.”

Rose looked thoughtful. “How about getting your own place, one of those little studios downtown?”

Rey pulled a face. “No way, I like living with other people and you guys have me spoiled with the yard and stuff. Plus it would just be too expensive, I could never afford it. Don’t worry, I'll find something.”

Rose pulled out her phone and tapped out a message, then turned her attention back to Rey and they resumed their earlier conversation on the pros and cons of various types of transistors. Ten minutes later Rose’s phone buzzed and she perked up.

“Hey, Poe says some guy he works with just bought a house and is looking for people to live with him, if you're interested? A three-bedroom over on Ridgeview. If it's on the north side of the street you might have a nice view of the mountains. Oh, it's Finn! I can vouch for him, he’s charming. Here's a photo.”

The photo showed a cute cottage-style house, two stories, with a small lawn fronted by a couple of flowerbeds. It looked homey, so Rey asked for Finn’s number and they made plans to meet that evening.

* * *

 

Finn was friendly, maybe a few years older than Rey's twenty-two, with dark brown skin, a warm smile and even warmer eyes. He explained the situation: his room was on the main floor and had its own bathroom, the other two bedrooms were on the second floor and would share a bath. They would split utilities and rent would be due on the first of the month. There was already another person set to move in, a newly hired professor of English at the local University where Rey was a student, someone named Ben, did Rey have issues sharing a bathroom with a man?

Rey did not, and she wouldn't be taking any more English classes so she didn't have to worry about ending up in his classroom. So after a few more questions about the sharing of space Rey and Finn shook hands and agreed that she would move in on the first of the next month, which happened to be June.

* * *

 

Ben had moved in a week before Rey, so by the time she got there the house was already hopping. He was tall and quiet, with longish dark hair and a strangely expressive face, and after only a few days she realized he had a dry sense of humour she really appreciated. She would set up jokes, Ben would follow through on them, and Finn would laugh. It was a good dynamic, and pleasant. She looked forward to interacting with them every day.

As the weeks passed they fell into a comfortable routine. Finn enjoyed cooking, and he was good at it, so by the second month he had taken on meal planning and they were going grocery shopping together, eating dinner together every night. She hadn't even done that with Rose and Poe. 

Finn broke a lamp and was prepared to throw it out until Rey fixed it, and she also fixed the creaking basement door and the leaking second-floor toilet. And in August Ben suggested starting a shared Google spreadsheet for logging the household expenses. When the men discovered Rey was paying a much higher percentage of her income to expenses they insisted on recalibrating it to be more equitable.

She was embarrassed. “Guys, you don't have to…” but they were insistent.

“Come on Rey, what's the point of having the salary of an adult if I don't use it responsibly, to help out my friends?” Finn had said this with a smile, and Ben had touched her shoulder, and both of these things made her feel good and warm inside.

* * *

 

During the fall semester Rey was taking three advanced engineering courses and they were stressing her out. They stressed her out so much she started to have nightmares; she hadn't had a nightmare in years.

She awoke very late one night, so late it was early, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. She wasn't alone; Ben was there, perched on the edge of her bed with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

He was apologetic. “I'm so sorry but… you were yelling. I was worried about you. Are you okay?”

She was now that he was here. She couldn't bring herself to say anything other than, “Stay? Please?” He didn't reply, but lifted the bedcovers as she moved over and he slipped in next to her and wrapped himself around her like a blanket. As she drifted off she giggled and said to herself, “My own Peeta.”

“What's that?” Ben's voice was sleepy in her ear.

“Nothing.  _ Hunger Games _ reference.”

“I haven't read those. Any good?”

But Rey didn't respond because she had already fallen back to sleep. Ben was up by the time her alarm went off, but her second pillow smelled like him.

* * *

 

The following week, Finn teased Ben for reading  _ The Hunger Games _ after dinner, while the other two were watching  _ Jeopardy! _ . Ben just smiled and said he had been given a glowing recommendation of the series and he wanted to see what the fuss was about.

* * *

 

Rey’s nightmares continued into October, and Ben would come to her without fail, until the night she woke up alone. She was upset until she was awake enough to remember that he was out of town at a conference. But she couldn't bear to be by herself. So she padded downstairs in the darkness and let herself into Finn's room. He was asleep but woke up when she touched his shoulder.

He wiped a hand across his face and asked, “Nightmare?”

She nodded and he scooted over and held his arms open and she climbed into them. He wiped the tears out of her eyes and kissed her forehead sweetly.

“How do you know about the nightmares?” She had not shared this information with Finn.

“Oh, Ben told me before he left. He thought something like this might happen.”

Finn was solid and warm and smelled very nice. His whole bed smelled like him. His lips were so soft on her face. She thought about kissing his lips with her own, what that would be like, and immediately felt bad. “Do you guys talk about me a lot when I'm not around?”

Finn chuckled. “Sure we do. Don't you and Ben talk about me?”

Rey thought about it and realized that they did. They talk about food he’s cooked and jokes he’s told and plans he’s made and sometimes they'll just wonder what he's up to. She thought about Ben and Finn talking about her like that and it made her belly warm. “I guess we do,” she admitted. 

Finn hummed and held her more tightly, and within minutes they were both asleep.

* * *

 

The first Saturday in November was the last Saturday before Daylight Savings Time ended, and they celebrated the last day of light and the good weather by hiking up to the waterfalls. They each selected a hearty walking stick, and the men brought them home so before dinner they had an impromptu stick fight in the backyard. Rey sat on the porch step and drank tea with glove-clad hands, watching the reflection of the setting sun on the mountains behind them while encouraging them and laughing her ass off. They were being especially ridiculous today, shouting and being very dramatic with their sword fighting technique.

It happened very suddenly. One moment Finn had the upper hand, pressing his stick against Ben’s and shouting victory, and the next moment their sticks were on the ground and Ben was leaning over Finn. He was kissing him, on the mouth, and Finn was kissing him back.

It was fine. She was happy for them, as happy as she'd been when Rose and Poe had first hooked up back in the spring. They were cute together, and she knew they liked each other although she'd misinterpreted their relationship. She'd misinterpreted a lot, apparently.

Rey stood up and headed back inside to give them some privacy, but Ben stopped her with a shout. She turned around to find them with their arms still around each other, but Ben held his hand out to her.

“Rey, come here. Please.”

She shook her head, doing her best to ignore the hot tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “It's fine, guys. You have a thing, that's cool. I don't want to, uh…” She had no idea how to finish the sentence. Ben returned her gaze, exasperated. Finn, on the other hand, looked distraught.

Ben spoke again, “Rey…” and Finn found his own voice.

“There's no  _ thing _ without you, Rey. Please?”

Rey still didn't understand but she went to them anyway. Finn looked deeply relieved as he cradled her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers. His lips were soft and his breath on her cheek was sweet. He pulled away with a smile, and then Ben was there. Ben was also smiling but his smile was darker than Finn’s, and he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck to hold her steady. While Finn’s kiss was sweet, Ben’s was hungry, and she was breathless by the time it was over. Then Finn kissed her again, and Ben’s nose was on her cheek, and she was laughing because this, this felt good, it felt  _ right _ , and Rey’s not sure why it took her so long to understand. She's hopeful there will be plenty of time to figure this out in the months ahead. With Ben and Finn beside her she feels as though anything might be possible.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm leofgyth on Tumblr, come say hi!


End file.
